All posts tagged State Politics

The Senate race in North Carolina, one of the biggest battlegrounds this cycle, is heating up ahead of the May 6 primary.

Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan’s re-election campaign launched its first ad of the cycle on Thursday, targeting remarks by leading GOP candidate Thom Tillis, the speaker of the North Carolina House, about the Affordable Care Act as well as his handling of a sex scandal involving staffers in 2012. Read More »

It wasn’t long ago that talking about marijuana legalization was on the fringe of American politics, and the idea was largely dismissed by the mainstream. But a range of polls suggests that is no longer the case. In fact, 2014 may be remembered as the year marijuana legalization went mainstream in politics. Read More »

The federal indictment of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, and his wife, Maureen, paints a picture of a household with extravagant tastes, mounting debts and a well-to-do businessman willing to lend a Ferrari and a sizable amount of money.

– The indictment portrays Virginia’s former first couple as facing financial worries even before taking office. Maureen McDonnell allegedly wrote an email to a top staffer, asking about inauguration expenses:

“I need to talk to you about Inaugural clothing budget. I need answers and Bob is screaming about the thousands I’m charging up in credit card debt. We are broke, have an unconscionable amount in credit card debt already, and this Inaugural is killing us!! I need answers and I need help, and I need to get this done.” Read More »

Neel Kashkari, one of the top officials in the U.S. government’s response to the financial crisis, announced Tuesday his plans to run for governor of California in November.

Mr. Kashkari, a Republican and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, joined the Treasury Department during the Bush administration and worked on a number of issues before taking control of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which infused a large amount of money into banks and automotive companies in an effort to restore stability. Mr. Kashkari agreed to stay to help the Obama administration manage its transition before moving back to California and working in a senior role at Pimco, a big investment management company headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. Read More »

Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) will run for governor of Louisiana in 2015, he announced Tuesday in an email to supporters. Louisiana’s current governor, Republican Bobby Jindal, will reach his term limit next year and is rumored to be considering a presidential bid in 2016.

Mr. Vitter, who was elected to the Senate in 2004 and previously elected to the House in 1999, is considered to be at the top of the GOP’s list of candidates to replace Mr. Jindal. In a video on his new campaign website, he said, “I believe that as our next governor, I can have a bigger impact addressing the unique challenges and opportunities we face in Louisiana, helping us truly reach our full potential.” Read More »

As more people sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, a few states stand out from the pack for their low enrollment numbers relative to their high numbers of uninsured people.

Consider Texas. According to the Census Bureau, the state had the highest percentage of uninsured residents in 2012 — about 24% of the population or some 6.3 million people. So far, only about 119,000 have enrolled for coverage – less than 2% of the uninsured.

And Texas isn’t alone. The top four states for uninsured people – Texas, plus Nevada, New Mexico and Florida – are all below 4% for enrollments. Florida is the only state ranked in the top-half in enrollments, barely, at number 25.

Why are these numbers so low? A close look shows the forces working against the ACA in these states are complicated and extend beyond politics to a combination of large Hispanic populations and online access issues.

To be sure, there are other factors. Three of the states — all but Nevada — are using HealthCare.gov, the problem-plagued federal health insurance exchange. And the Republican governors in Texas and Florida worked to make it more difficult for the ACA “navigators,” who were supposed to help people with sign-ups, to do their jobs. Read More »

Several state insurance regulators said “thanks but no thanks” to a planned meeting at the White House Wednesday afternoon with an association representing state insurance-department regulators to discuss difficulties carrying out President Barack Obama’s plan to allow a one-year extension of health insurance policies that were canceled because they don’t comply with the Affordable Care Act, people familiar with the matter said.

The regulators—most from states led by Republican governors—balked at attending, given how controversial the president’s health-care overhaul has become. Many states are still struggling to decide whether to support the president’s planned fix, which is aimed at quieting some of the outrage over cancellations of millions of policies that people had bought directly with insurers in past years but now don’t comply with the new health-care law… Read More »

State insurance regulators face tough choices with President Barack Obama‘s plan to allow a one-year extension of health policies that don’t comply with the health care law.

Insurance regulators in Republican-led states, where political leaders have been vocal opponents of the Affordable Care Act, criticized the president’s latest move, though some said they wouldn’t stop insurers that want to go along with it.

At the same time, insurance regulators in a few Democratic-run states said they oppose extending health-care policies that would otherwise be canceled under the ACA… Read More »

ATLANTA – Jason Carter, a grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, has announced he is seeking the Democratic nomination for Georgia governor in an effort to unseat incumbent Republican Nathan Deal next year.

The struggles of HealthCare.gov have clearly been problematic for the Affordable Care Act, but it’s not clear what they will ultimately mean for the law.

This week’s Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, which was in the field during last week’s media coverage of the website’s problems, revealed little change in what people think about the health law – 37% said it is a “good idea” while 47% said it is a “bad idea.” In the September poll, 31% said it was a “good idea,” while 44% said it was a “bad idea.”

Traffic numbers for HealthCare.gov compiled by the web analytics firm comScore show visits climbed last week after dropping from the first week’s 5.3 million unique visitors. Visitors dropped to 2.4 million in the second week, and 1.6 million in the third before rising to 2.3 million last week. Those numbers are not a good start, but they may indicate something other than a catastrophe.

To be clear the comScore data, estimates based off of actual web traffic numbers, do not show a high level of buy-in for the ACA. Of all the visitors to the site, only about 180,000 compared plans and completed an application, according to their figures… Read More »

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.